The entirety of Nippert Stadium, save for a small clan of Nashville SC supporters, was smarting after Bradley Bourgeois' extra time equalizer.

Futbol Club Cincinnati had gone ahead just minutes earlier through Corben Bone's sweetly hit goal in the 95th minute, and the club was on its way to the USL Cup Eastern Conference semifinals.

The celebration was on – until it wasn't. And when Nashville's Bourgeois got a fortunate deflection on a shot that fluttered over the outstretched hands of goalkeeper Spencer Richey in the 115th minute, the celebration was decidedly off.

The goal cast a pall over Nippert. Jubilation was snuffed out. Doubt started to steadily creep in. It was thick in the air like the celebratory confetti from Bone's goal that was still being tossed about in Saturday evening's stiff winds.

Even the FC Cincinnati team itself needed a few minutes to gather itself after the Nashville goal, and that period nearly proved to be the end of team's season.

The team switched off. It allowed Nashville SC to play Brandon Allen in on goal with a clear goal-scoring chance.

Richey sprawled to make arguably the most important save of 2018.

Richey gave a match-winning performance even prior to that save. His night in goal was a master class in reaction saves, intelligent punches and tips, and knockout match survival instincts.

None of his fine moments in Saturday's match compared to the stonewalling of Allen, who gathered the ball and moved into the penalty box from the top righthand corner of Richey's area.

At the time, the save wasn't fully appreciated, nor did fans have time to appreciate it.

There were still several minutes to survive just to get to penalty kicks, and penalty kicks weren't exactly an enticing consolation prize considering FC Cincinnati was about five minutes from a 1-0 win prior to the equalizer.

But Richey's save made penalties possible, and we now know how the penalties went.

Remember the six confidently hit penalties FC Cincinnati took in the shootout.

Remember Kenney Walker's conversion to seal FC Cincinnati's advancement in the USL Cup Eastern Conference playoffs, and certainly remember the post-match scenes. It was jubilation restored after an afternoon and evening of breathless soccer.

Just don't forget the Richey save late in extra time that put FC Cincinnati in position for the latest unforgettable moment in club history.